A new challenge

Posted 9 June 2015 12:00 AM by Healthspan Editorial Team

Regular readers of Lifespanmay remember Professor Paul Townsend for the amazing work he has been doing in the field of cancer research and precision medicine. He recently got in touch to report that £18 million pounds have been awarded to the University of Manchester, to extend these studies – with a little help from Healthspan customers.

“This allows us to extend our research beyond cancer to other chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, as these all share a common cause in metabolic and inflammatory imbalance.” Professor Townsend said.

“Anything we can do to help generate funding and donations can only be a good thing.”

— Professor Paul Townsend

Not content to sit back and relax, Professor Townsend has now set himself a personal challenge: to take part in a triathlon with a team of scientists to raise money for leukaemia and lymphoma research. Every year, this group like to get involved in fundraising. “We are a mixed bag of competitors,” says Professor Townsend, who will be take part alongside Professor Mark Cragg from the University of Southampton. “Anything we can do to help generate funding and donations can only be a good thing.”

The event

The Blenheim Triathlon consists of a 750m swim, 20k bike ride and a 5.7k run. As part of the team, Paul will be completing a 400m swim, a 13.2km bike ride and a 3.1km run. Paul has had heart surgery recently, and so completing the triathlon will be a real achievement. “Training has been interesting,” says Paul. “I’ve had no swimming coaching and keep floating sideways - not useful in a triathlon! Open water swimming in a wet suit is hard.”

The charity

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (LLR) is the only UK charity solely dedicated to research into blood cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. They rely entirely on voluntary support to raise funds, as they receive no government funding. Established 50 years ago, they have built up a unique expertise in blood cancer research. This means that they invest in only the best UK research to bring us closer to a cure for all blood cancers. So we hope you agree it’s a worthwhile cause.”

Raising funds

If you’d like to inspire the team to victory (no time limits - completion is the goal this time), simply visit their page on Virgin Money Giving.